Raissa D’Souza Appointed Lead Editor of Physical Review Research

The American Physical Society is delighted to announce Raissa D’Souza, Professor at the University of California, Davis departments of Computer Science and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, has been appointed Lead Editor of Physical Review Research. She joins fellow Lead Editors Nicola Spaldin and Jian-Wei Pan on the editorial leadership team of APS’ new open access, multidisciplinary journal, which is now open for submissions.

D’Souza is widely recognized for her interdisciplinary research in network science and complex systems, with many of her influential papers appearing in Physical Review Letters and Physical Review E. Her expertise spans the fields of statistical physics, theoretical computer science, and applied math with a focus on phase transitions and cascading failures. In addition to her roles at UC Davis, D’Souza is External Professor and Science Board member at the Santa Fe Institute. She received a Ph.D. in Statistical Physics from MIT in 1999, then was a postdoctoral fellow, first in Fundamental Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Bell Laboratories, and then in the Theory Group at Microsoft Research.

“The demand for open sharing of knowledge is increasing, and Physical Review Research will provide an open access venue with the integrity and quality our communities expect from an APS journal,” said D’Souza. “Thematically, PRResearch will integrate across all areas of interest to Physical Review readers, creating a cohesive overview of the forefront of modern physics, and advancing novel research in the transdisciplinary areas – at the interfaces of science, engineering and social systems – which are crucial for addressing the problems we face in modern society.”

D’Souza is a Fellow of APS, a National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow, and was elected Fellow of the Network Science Society following terms as President (2015-2018) and Outgoing President (2018-2019). Her service also includes participation in the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Complex Systems, organization of many scientific meetings, and membership on the editorial board of a diverse array of international journals focused on physics and mathematics, as well as multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary areas of research. She has received numerous honors, including: the inaugural Euler Prize of the Network Science Society; the Test of Time Award from the ACM Joint European Software Engineering Conference and Symposium on the Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE), recognizing highly influential papers published 10 years ago in ESEC or FSE; the UC Davis College of Engineering Outstanding Mid-Career Faculty Research Award; and the ACM SIGSOFT Distinguished Paper Award. When not pursuing scientific goals, she can often be found climbing or skiing in the Sierra Nevada.

Physical Review Research will soon be announcing appointments of Editorial Board members as it continues to build a diverse and global editorial team to cover the topical breadth and geographic range of this multidisciplinary, international peer-reviewed journal.

To learn more about Physical Review Research visit the journal homepage or follow @PhysRevResearch on Twitter.